Germany prosecutors charge former Nazi with murder

[JURIST] German prosecutors on Wednesday charged an 88-year old German man, referred to in court documents as "Werner C," with involvement in a 1944 massacre that took place in Oradour-sur-Glane in central France. According to the prosecution, Warner C murdered 25 people and aided and abetted [BBC reports] fellow Nazi SS troops in the murder of 642 people during the incident. Media outlets report that 60 SS troops were brought to trial in the 1950's for the massacre. While 20 were convicted, all were subsequently released. Werner C's lawyer has reportedly admitted his client's presence in the French village during the massacre but denied any involvement in the killings themselves.

Despite the ages of the accused, authorities have continued to charge individuals with crimes related to Germany's Nazi era. In December a German district court in Ellwangen ruled [JURIST report] that accused former Auschwitz guard, Hans Lipschis, is unfit to stand trial. In November a German prosecutor recommended that a 94-year-old man living in Minnesota be charged [JURIST report] with 40 counts of murder for his involvement in an attack that razed a Polish village to the ground in 1944. In September the trial of 92-year-old Siert Bruins, a former member of the Nazi Waffen SS, began [JURIST report] in Germany's Hagen State Court. In August the head of the German prosecutors' office that specializes in investigating Nazi crimes reported that its investigation into 50 individuals suspected of serving as guards [JURIST report] at Auschwitz is almost complete.

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